Now You're Back
by NayClem
Summary: Sequel to After You've Gone. How the team react now Jack has returned? Will they accept him back? Or turn their backs on their Captain when he needs them the most?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Woop!! Here's the sequel!! After You're Gone was the first full-length story I've completed so I'm amazed I'm actually writing a sequel as well!! This story will mainly follow Jack and Ianto's relationship throughout series 2 and the Doctor Who finale but there will also be behind the scenes stuff as well.

I hope everyone who has waited for this enjoys it, please review as it encourages me to write quicker!!

This chapter follows the events of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and I know that there are many stories out there that do that, but there are behind the scenes stuff towards the end, so please bear with me and keep reading!!

I've planned most of this story out, but haven't written any other chapters and I go back to college in a few weeks so I've no idea how quick I'll be writing them as I have no idea how much work will be piled on me, so please bear with me!! I'll try and write a chapter a week, but I don't think that will happen so be patient and review please!!

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**Now You're Back**

When Ianto turned around and saw the face of a grinning Captain Jack Harkness, he didn't know whether to kiss him or hit him. The cocky look on his bosses' face seemed to encourage the later option. Instead, he avoided the sympathetic gaze of Gwen and the murderous stare of Owen and walked out of the door, avoiding making any contact with Jack, to collect a body bag from the SUV, Owen came out to help him and to try and make conversation, but Ianto just shook his head and took out his mobile to call an ambulance for the gun-shot victim. The two men walked back into the house to find the two girls careful ignoring Jack, Gwen comforting the scared family and Tosh scanning the Blowfish's body, collecting data for their database.

Ianto helped Owen with the body and then distributed Retcon to the victims before directing the paramedics to the injured man and explaining that they had been given sedatives to calm them down from the supposed 'burglary,' (the paramedics looked sceptical throughout the whole explanation – they had obviously had experience of Torchwood in the past). The newly reunited Torchwood team made their way outside, none of them saying a word, back to the SUV. There was a slight awkward moment when both Jack and Owen went for the drivers' door, Jack probably looked the most uncomfortable before Owen nodded and went back around to the passenger door, leaving Gwen to sit in the back with Toshiko and Ianto. The drive back to The Hub consisted of a very long, uncomfortable silence in which Tosh, Gwen and Owen kept sending worried looks towards Ianto who was ignoring them all, staring determinedly out of the window, his mind trying to grasp the fact that Jack had returned.

* * *

Once they reached The Hub, Gwen, Owen, Tosh and Ianto went through the motions automatically; carrying the body down to the Autopsy Room, logging the information onto the database and cleaning and replacing weapons, Jack standing there, watching them the whole time, silent. It was almost as if he wasn't there, and Ianto tried to pretend he wasn't, doing his job and cracking a joke or two to Gwen, trying to stop the concerned looks she kept sending him. Eventually Jack seemed to gather the courage to speak, commenting on how well they coped without him and Ianto was sure he caught a hint of jealousy in his voice.

However, Jack's comment was all it took to set Gwen of, berating him for leaving and then, Jack did something that Ianto had only heard him do once or twice before.

He apologised.

This, however, seemed to infuriate Gwen even more, and Tosh took over, ever the calming presence, although her voice was the colder then Ianto had ever heard.

'Were did you go?'

'I found my Doctor,' Ianto could almost hear Owen's mental 'shit' and made a mental note to get the £40 the medic now owed him.

'Did he fix you?'

Jack's answer finally made Ianto believe that the man in front of him was really, _truly_, his boss and not some impostor or one of Ianto's many dreams, only Jack could say something as egotistical as 'You don't mess with this level of perfection.'

And then, Ianto spoke, earning a sharp look from Owen, asking the one question he needed to know the answer to, looking directly into Jack's eyes, so Jack _had_ to tell the truth. Jack looked straight back at him, speaking only to him, and Ianto could see the truth in his eyes.

'I came back for you,' Jack looked slightly shocked at his own admission and, blinking, noticed the rest of the team watching him added, '_all_ of you.'

If the Rift Alarm hadn't interrupted them then, Ianto had a feeling he would have done or said something very stupid. Instead, he let his professional side take over and he went to stand next to Toshiko at her station, determining where the rift activity was and how serious it was. The activity wasn't that big, unlikely that anything too dangerous had come through, but a few minutes later, when the police report came through, they knew that they would have to make their second outing of the evening.

* * *

When Jack grabbed the SUV and drove off after he received the hologram message on his wrist strap, Ianto finally felt something again. Anger. Pure anger. He was NOT going to let Jack disappear in them AGAIN, not only an hour after he had returned to them. He ran off down the street, he knew Tosh could trace the SUV, now they only needed transport. That he could do, after all, he had spent many years organising the Torchwood team.

Once they had all climbed into the taxi, and Toshiko had given the cabbie the address of the bar Jack seemed to be heading for, they sat there in silence for a few seconds, unsure of what to say to each other. Ianto could sense the tension rolling off the others, unsure whether to say something or not. They could all feel the adrenaline pumping though their systems, hyping them up for the fight that they knew would come, the excitement of the hunt, the excitement of having Jack back.

Eventually, though, the tension cracked, and the team seemed to enjoy a healthy session of 'Jack-bashing,' getting rid of the tension that had hung around the team since Jack had returned. Gwen seemed to be unable to forgive the fact that they knew nothing about Jack, Ianto probably knew the most about their boss but he was unwilling to tell the team, knowing that if Jack wanted them to know about him, he would tell them himself. It was Ianto himself, though, who admitted the truth.

'It is more fun when he's around though.' The others nodded and made noises of agreement although they all looked unwilling to admit it.

When Ianto first saw John Hart, he knew he was trouble. He didn't know why, but he could sense the insincerity coming from the 'Time Agent.' He knew when Hart that he and Jack had been partners 'in every sense of the word,' he should have been jealous, especially when Gwen sent him a pitying look, but what was the point? During Jack's time away, he had been sorting through the archives and had come across Jack's records - locked away, presumably by Jack himself - going back to the 1800's, so of course Jack had had previous lovers, what was the point in being jealous? Even if they were arrogant jerks like Hart. The only thing he did resent was the fact that John Hart knew more about Jack then the whole Torchwood team put together, despite the fact that it was unlikely the two men had seen each other for the past 200 years, Jack's time.

He almost laughed out load when Tosh flirted with John Hart, taking the attention away from Jack and John's banter. The young Japanese women had really come out of her shell since Jack had left, mainly because she had realised that Ianto did understand a lot of her techno-babble and, consequently, the two had become very close over the past 6 months.

When they returned to The Hub, Owen dropped Jack and John of in the Plass and the rest of the team took the SUV into the underground car park under the Millennium Centre and entered The Hub through the hidden secure door into the tunnels that made up most of Torchwood Three base.

Once they entered The Hub, Ianto made sure to avoid the other three as he knew they would all quiz him on his feelings of Jack's return – something he really didn't want to discuss, partly because he wasn't sure what his answer would be. He stood there, ignoring Owen standing next to him, watching Jack and Hart descend on the invisible lift, and decided that the easiest way to get through today was to bury his emotions; be the emotionless butler that Jack obviously expected of him, until he could get home and deal with his emotions in private.

He set this plan into action immediately, going to stand next to Jack as Hart handed over his weapons, face blank, holding a silver tray like a good butler should, and then escorting Hart to Toshiko's desk where they looked at the radiation and rift surges throughout Cardiff, trying to locate the bombs. He stood close to them quietly; offering 'local knowledge' where it was needed until they had pinpointed the three likely areas the bombs had landed. They called Owen into the Board Room and Jack and Gwen soon followed, both of them looking slightly angry.

When Gwen began pairing them off to go and look for the bombs, he closed his eyes, knowing what was coming but that didn't stop him from nearly hitting his friend when she said 'Ianto and Jack.' He knew that she was trying to help, forcing Jack and Ianto to talk about what had happened, but that was the one thing he really did not want to do.

In the SUV, Ianto slipped back into 'perfect employee' mode, looking at his hand held like it held the answers to life, trying his best to ignore Jack's attempts at small talk, giving either short answers or directions to their destination.

They used alien tech to over ride the office building's security system and stepped into the lift. Ianto didn't breath the whole way up to the top floor, knowing that if he did, he would smell Jack's '51st Century Pheromones' and he wouldn't be able to resist the man standing so close to him, their arms touching.

Jack stood in the lift, rocking on the balls of his feet, hands behind his back, feeling the tension rolling of Ianto. He looked at the Welshman out of the corner of his eye and noted that he didn't seem to be breathing, Jack grinned, 'Well,' he thought, 'at least I still have some affect on him, maybe there's still hope.' He crossed his fingers behind his back and hopped that, by running after The Doctor, he hadn't screwed up things with Ianto.

They stepped out the lift and Ianto breathed in the fresh air, immediately heading in the opposite direction to Jack, putting as much distance between them as possible. He heard Jack chattering in the background and he knew Jack well enough that he only told ridiculous stories when he was nervous or there was uncomfortable silences, but what Jack had to be nervous about, he didn't know, after all, they were all happy to have him back.

'So how are you, Ianto?'

The question surprised him. He wouldn't call Jack selfish, but he very rarely worried about how other people felt.

'All the better for having you back, sir,' perfect, emotionless, butler-like answer.

Jack's next sentence, however, dissolved all the shields, defences and facades Ianto had spent the past six months building up.

'Are you asking me on a date?' he stammered, trying to kid himself that, even if Jack was asking him on a date, it didn't bother him.

'Maybe, you interested?'

So Ianto did what he always did when he was uncomfortable; he made a sarcastic comment. 'As long as it's not in an office; some fetishes should be kept to yourself.'

_Stop it, _his mind all but yelled at him, _stop making a fool of yourself_. He changed the subject in an attempt retain at least a little of his dignity, this failed dismally though when Jack paused at the door.

'By the way, was that a yes?'

_No! No!_ his mind did scream this time, 'Yes, yes,' his mouth said. Jack walked out the door, grinning, heading for the stairs to the roof.

Ianto sat down heavily in one of the desk chairs and banged his head against the desk. _Shit._

* * *

'So,' Owen said, pressing the dressing against his leg and sitting up in the hospital bed, 'what happened between you and the righteous Captain?'

The two men sat in the A&E department of Cardiff General, having been ushered straight in upon showing their Torchwood IDs. Ianto and Toshiko had both offered to help Owen to Casualty to have his leg seen to, Ianto knowing that it was either that or have Jack corner him, wanting to hide from their past selves for the evening, and Toshiko preferring to spend the time with the boys rather then the loneliness of her own flat. At the moment she had gone in search of 'decent coffee,' sick of Ianto's grimace every time he took a sip of the vending-machine-supplied 'muck,' as he called it.

Ianto groaned and sat down in the chair in the cubicle next to Owen's bed, 'Don't make me talk about it, please,' he buried his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes and knowing that Owen would keep perusing the matter until he got the answers he wanted.

'Well, now you've said that, I'm gonna make you talk if it takes all night,' Owen grinned, swinging he legs 'round so they were hanging off the edge of the bed, the painkillers he had been given by the A&E doctors clearly taking effect.

Ianto merely sat back in his chair, buried his hands in his pockets and glared at the still grinning Owen. Ianto sighed, knowing that trying to dissuade a determined Owen was a lost cause.

'He… he asked me out on a date,' he said quietly.

The grin disappeared from Owen's face, 'What?!'

'He asked me out on a date. In his words, "dinner, maybe a movie."'

Owen looked like a fish for a few seconds, his mouth working, trying to find words, 'This is the same Captain we're talking about, isn't it, renowned flirt? Sleep with anything that'll move? Has a fetish for army coats?'

Ianto nodded miserably. Owen sat back on the bed, sighing deeply, 'Well, this is something new. Well done mate,' he punched Ianto lightly on the shoulder, 'you've domesticated the Captain!!'

Ianto just scowled, welcoming Toshiko's return as it distracted Owen. Not for very long though despite how good the coffee was.

'Tosh!! We need to give Ianto a trophy!!' Tosh frowned, sending Ianto a confused look. He just shrugged, still glaring at Owen, 'He's domesticated the Captain!! Jack asked him out on a date!!'

Toshiko had almost the same reaction both Ianto and Owen had had; jaw slack, searching for words. Ianto still hadn't moved, slouched in the chair, hands around his paper coffee cup, glaring at the floor so Tosh perched herself on the edge of Owen's bed.

'What?! What did you say?' The Japanese women asked, her voice full of excitement and surprise, staring at Ianto.

Ianto closed his eyes as though trying to block out bad memories, hoping that if he ignored the question, Owen and Tosh would drop it. They didn't.

'Well? What did you say?' asking this question didn't seem to have occurred to Owen but now he was eager to have it answered.

'I said yes,' Ianto all but whispered.

Owen and Tosh frowned at each other, confused.

'But, Ianto, isn't that a good thing?' Toshiko asked hesitantly.

Ianto sighed and sat up, taking a gulp from his coffee, 'Yes… No… I don't know! I promised myself that I wouldn't just take him back and let him walk all over me if he came back, I'd just end up hurt again so I figured that if I didn't let him back into my life, he couldn't hurt me again! Then what do I do the second he comes back? Agree to go on a date with him!' Ianto, looking furious with himself, kept his gaze on the floor, refusing to catch the eyes of either Owen or Toshiko.

The confusion left Tosh's face and she reached across to rub Ianto's arm soothingly, 'Ianto, look, if Jack's asking you on a date, he's serious. I've known him for almost **five** years and he's never asked anyone on a date, isn't that right?' she looked at Owen for confirmation and the Londoner nodded, 'if he's asked you on a date, he's not going to up and leave you again, he'll probably do anything to stop you getting hurt. Jack flirts and sleeps around, yes, but that's as far as he goes, it's probably to stops _himself_ getting hurt what with the whole never dieing thing, so if he's willing to go further with you he's sacrificing hurting himself if anything happens to you.'

Both Ianto and Owen were starting at Tosh, surprised at her insight. She just looked at them both, pulling her arm back from where it was resting on Ianto's shoulder and shrugged, 'I do pay attention to people as well as computers you know!'

The two men looked at each other and laughed, releasing the tension of the day, Ianto leaning forward and hugging Toshiko in thanks. Before they could say anything else, however, the doctor walked in.

'Poor sod,' thought Ianto as he listened to Owen's whinging, 'Doctor's really do make the worst patients.'

* * *

Ianto walked up the stairs to his flat, tired and weary after suffering Owen describing in detail the engine of the 'borrowed' red convertible, only to find Jack sitting at his door. He paused, surprised to see his boss there and even more surprised that he hadn't let himself in with the key Ianto knew he had 'for emergencies.'

'Jack,' he said in surprise, forgetting the image of 'butler' he had been trying to project for Jack the whole night.

'Ianto!' Jack said, getting up from where he had been sitting, leaning against Ianto's front door, 'how's Owen?'

'Fine, fine, the doctor's patched him up although he wouldn't stop whining the whole time,' Ianto rummaged in his pockets for his keys and waited for Jack to move out of the way so he could let himself in.

'Oh, sorry!' Jack jumped out of the way and followed Ianto into the flat, looking around to see what had changes since the last time he had been here, just after Lisa's death.

'So,' Ianto started, looking through his fridge trying to decide whether week old Chinese takeaway was still edible (judging by the smell, no), 'what are you doing here?'

'Well,' Jack said, taking off his coat and hanging it on the hooks in the hallway, 'I couldn't go back to the Hub because we'd've been there so it was either this or wonder the streets for hours, I hope you don't mind?'

Ianto had never seen Jack this… vulnerable. The last time Jack had been in his flat, he was the last person Ianto had wanted to see but Jack refused to leave and now he was asking Ianto for permission to stay? He wondered just what had happened to Jack over the pat six months.

'No, you can stay, do you want anything to eat? I'll probably have to order out, I haven't got anything in. Pizza ok?' Ianto walked through to the living room holding a bottle of beer and a glass of water and handed the glass to Jack who was sitting on the sofa.

'Pizza's fine,' Jack replied, smiling up at Ianto in thanks, 'can we just have margarita?'

Now Ianto was really worried. Jack usually had the most outrageous pizza toppings on the menu and usually some that weren't. He frowned and nodded, 'I'll go order it now and then I'll get changed, back in a minute.'

He walked down the hallway to his bedroom, grabbing the phone and ordering the pizza on his way (the thought that having the pizza delivery place on speed dial was a bit sad did cross his mind) and dug some ragged jeans and a t-shirt out of his draws to change into.

He walked back into the living room to find Jack looking at his DVD's, sipping his water, and sat on the edge of the sofa, feeling uncomfortable. Jack looked around at him and waved the DVD case he was holding at Ianto.

'Yum, Russell Crowe half naked, mud and gore – sounds like a good movie.'

Ianto rolled his eyes and grabbed his beer from where it was sat on the coffee table, 'you can put it on if you want,' he gestured to the wide screen TV with his bottle.

Jack just retuned the box to the shelf and kept looking, going from the DVD's to Ianto's bookshelf, sipping his water as he went. Ianto couldn't help but examine Jack as he browsed, noticing that his boss seemed thinner and held himself more stiffly and kept rolling his shoulders as though to try and remove a permanent kink.

'Where were you really?' he asked, not really expecting a real answer, 'how long where you away for?'

Jack shot Ianto a surprised look but Ianto kept his gaze level, trying to make Jack believe that he was trying to help.

Jack sighed and Ianto saw his shoulders droop, 'I was with The Doctor,' he admitted, coming to sit next to Ianto on the sofa and propping his feet on the coffee table in front of them, 'but we were gone for just over a year; me, The Doctor and his companion, Martha Jones. We were captured, me and The Doctor, but Martha got away and she eventually managed to rescue us,' Jack grinned and took a swig of his water, 'Martha Jones… she's brilliant… won't take any nonsense, you'd like her.'

'I'm sure I would,' Ianto said but he was prevented from saying anything else by the doorbell ringing, 'that'll be the pizza' he said instead, getting up and grabbing his wallet from his coat pocket, hanging in the hallway.

He paid for the pizza and returned to the living room to find Jack had replaced his water glass and Ianto's beer bottle with full ones and had brought plates through from the kitchen. Ianto smiled in thanks and put the box on the table, sitting back down next to Jack.

The two men ate in silence for a few minutes before Ianto gathered the courage to keep questioning Jack about his time away, 'So, you were captured? By who?'

Jack nodded, slowly chewing his pizza and only answered after he's swallowed, 'Yeah, we were captured by one of the Doctor's old enemies, another Time Lord, he imprisoned me and The Doctor but Martha escaped,' Jack deliberately skipped over the horrific truth, not wanting Ianto to suffer the same nightmares he knew he would suffer from.

'Where were you,' Ianto asked and Jack sighed, he had hoped Ianto wouldn't ask that question but, looking into Ianto's eyes, he couldn't help but tell the truth.

'We were on Earth,' and at Ianto's puzzled look he elaborated, 'The Master, he's the one who captured us, he got hold of The Doctor's ship.'

'The TARDIS,' Ianto supplied.

'Right!' Jack said waving his pizza at Ianto, 'Well, he wanted to take over Earth, but to do that he needed an army. So he went to the end of the Universe and brought back the last humans. They were desperate at that point. They would have done anything to survive, and The Master gave them a way out, so he brought them back to this time so that they would fight for him.'

'But wouldn't that create a paradox?' Jack grinned, they really did underestimate Ianto.

'Yeah, and it did, but The Master used the TARDIS to make a paradox machine, and when Martha managed to rescue us, I destroyed the Paradox Machine and time went back so that none of The Master's murder spree ever happened.'

Ianto nodded slowly, chewing on his pizza, trying to make sense of what he had been told. He could tell Jack was leaving out some of the fact's about his trio but he was grateful that Jack trusted him enough to tell him this much so he didn't push it. Then something hit him.

'The Master!' he all but shouted, making Jack jump, 'Harold Saxon, that's what he called himself when the President was assassinated by those globe things! Are you saying that Harold Saxon was The Master?! And those globe things? They were us from the future?'

Jack nodded sadly, 'Yeah, but he's dead now, he refused to regenerate after his wife shot him, so it's all over.'

Ianto could tell that Jack was trying to change the topic and he respected that, not pushing anymore. 'Thanks for telling me this,' he said simply, knowing how hard it would have been for Jack to confide in him after centuries of pushing people away.

Jack looked at Ianto, 'I meant what I said you know, about the date and everything. I mean, I had a year to think about everything and I realised the only reason I was pushing people away was so that I wouldn't be sad when they died but that was only making me more miserable while they were still alive, I might as well make the most of what I have now instead of looking back on what could have been.'

Ianto looked surprised, party at Jack's heartfelt confession and partly at how right Toshiko had been.

'So, Ianto, would you do me the honour of going on a date with me?'

Ianto chuckled at Jack's exuberance, 'Yes I will, but on one condition.'

'Anything, my dear sweet Ianto,' Ianto rolled his eyes.

'You don't let our relationship get in the way of work.'

Jack looked thoughtful, 'Does that mean no more blow jobs in the archives?'

Ianto rolled his eyes again, 'Yes, but it also means that if I'm hurt of injured, you get on with the job and don't treat me differently from the others, OK?'

Jack nodded, 'Deal, but I have a condition as well.'

Ianto looked suspicious, 'What?'

'We take it slow, like a proper relationship. I hate that Torchwood stops you lot having proper lives, so we're going to do this as normally as possible. That also means that I'm going to leave now before you start liking that tomato sauce of your fingers which will most defiantly make me want to jump you.'

Ianto looked at his fingers and whipped them on his trousers instead, Jack stood up and walked into the hallway to get his coat, Ianto looked at the clock and realised that it was late enough that Jack could go back to The Hub without bumping into any of their past selves. He followed Jack into the hall and watched him pull on his coat before opening the door.

'So, you free Saturday night? Rift actively permitting, of course.'

Ianto nodded, leaning against the door, 'Yeah, that sounds fine, where are we going?'

'It shall be a surprise! Just promise me you'll wear the rent boy jeans?'

Ianto looked confused for a few seconds before he remembered their first meeting and his outfit, he rolled his eyes, 'If you're good I'll consider it.'

Jack grinned and turned to go before changing his mind, and turning back to Ianto, Ianto looked questioningly at him before Jack took two steps towards him and leant down and kissed Ianto softly.

Ianto felt his head spin and closed his eyes. This was unlike any kiss he had ever shared with Jack before; it was tender instead of passionate, gentle instead of desperate. He felt Jack pull away and his eyes flickered open again.

'I'll see you tomorrow then?' Jack asked, 'You don't have to come in until the afternoon, given the late night and all.'

All Ianto could do was nod.

'See you then, night Ianto,' Jack turned and started walking down the corridor before Ianto found his voice.

'Night Jack,' he was rewarded by a flash of teeth over the Captain's shoulder.

* * *

Wow, there we go, my longest chapter ever!! I'll start working on the next chapter asap.

Please review/comment as it motivates me to write faster!! Hope you all like it!!

NCxx


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** right, here's chapter two, I know it's shorter then the last one but I have them all planned out so this is just sticking to the plan. Hope you like this one and please reveiw!!

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Now You're Back – Chapter Two

It had only been a few days since Jack had returned and he was till working through the piles of paperwork on his desk. It was late on Thursday night and he was alone in The Hub apart from Owen, who was finishing an autopsy on, what seemed to be, the equivalent of an alien monkey apart for the fact that it was purple and had the head of a horse. He had just finished reading and signed off the report about the teams' – pointless – trip to Tibet, when Owen stormed in and plonked himself down in the chair in front of Jack's desk.

'Can I help you?'

'Finished the autopsy.'

'Anything interesting?'

'Not really, standard stuff really, interesting DNA coding though; they…' Owen trailed off at the look of disinterest in Jack's face, 'yeah, nothing interesting.'

'And you are still here… why?'

'I need to talk to you about something.'

Jack sat there for a few seconds, waiting for Owen to continue. When they had sat in silence for the better part of a minute – Owen squirming uncomfortably in his seat – he gave up. 'Owen? What did you want to talk about?'

Owen lent forward, elbows on knees, hands clasped and looked at Jack. 'You and Ianto. What's going on there?'

Jack leant back in his desk chair, looking suspiciously at Owen, 'What do you care?'

Owen rolled his eyes and stood up to start pacing Jack's office, 'Believe it or not Jack, when you were swaning all 'round the Universe, we had to become a _team._ And _team_ means we look after and trust each other. And by look _after_ I mean making sure that the tea-boy doesn't end up with his heart broken like he did the last time you _abandoned_ him.'

Jack stared at Owen, opened mouthed. The medic actually looked serious. Like he cared. Jack hadn't seen the Londoner care – properly care – since he had recruited him after Katie dies. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words. 'He… he had his heart broken?'

Owen suddenly looked guilty – like he had said something he shouldn't have, 'No, well… not really… he never said that _exactly_ but, well…' he turned around to face Jack, running his hand through his hair, 'You leaving hit us all pretty hard Jack, Ianto most of all,' he turned back to face the window overlooking The Hub, and started muttering, but Jack still managed to catch his words, 'Bloody tea-boy seemed determined to starve and exhaust himself,' Owen turned again, putting his hands flat in the desk, looking Jack directly in the eye, 'Everybody Ianto has loved – or even remotely let himself be himself around – has left him, by choice or not. You and I both know how much that hurts, so… Just – if you still insist on pursuing this… whatever it is you have, just try not to mess him up anymore then he already is, alright?'

And with that, rather dramatic finish, Owen left the office, leaving his boss at his desk, mouth hanging open.

Two days later and Jack was – for the second time in a week – standing in front of Ianto's front door.

He felt nervous. Captain Jack Harkness _never_ felt nervous. He blamed Owen. Bloody pompous doctor's putting doubts into his head.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. 20 seconds –and what seemed like an eternity to the jumpy Jack – later, the door opened on Ianto. Jack grinned, nerves disappearing when he saw the Welshman, grinning apprehensively, dressed – unusually – in jeans and a button down shirt. Jack grinned even harder when he recognized the belt and necklace Ianto had worn when they had first met.

'Hey, you're on time!' Ianto said sounding surprised.

Jack scowled but the curling of his lips gave him away, 'I'm always on time!'

Ianto just rolled his eyes and grabbed the jacket and keys from the table just inside the door before shutting it behind him.

'So, where are we going?' Ianto asked as they made their way down the stairs to where Ianto's car was parked next to the curb. Jack had insisted on organizing the "date," which went against al of Ianto's instincts but he couldn't resist when Jack had looked at him with his puppy-dog eyes. They had, however, both agreed that taking the SUV on their date would be a bit much like "bringing the office home with them," and decided to take Ianto's car instead.

'Patience, Ianto, patience,' Jack replied to Ianto's question.

They reached the car in question and Ianto glared at Jack until the Captain slunk around to the passenger door – no way was he letting Captain High-Speed-Car-Chase drive his baby – an dark grey Aston Martin DB9 convertible he had bought as soon as he could afford it after starting at Torchwood 1, although he would never, _never_ admit that it was due to the influence of James Bond. Jack smirked when he saw the car, if only Owen knew that the car he drooled over everyday on his way into work belonged to their quite teaboy…

Ianto waited for Jack to climb into the low-slung car and fasten his seatbelt before turning on the engine with a roar of the tubos.

'So, you're going to have to tell me where we're going now,' Ianto said, slightly smugly, 'or are we just going to sit here all night?'

Jack scowled at Ianto's logic.

'Fine, fine. The Las Tasca restaurant, you know it?'

Ianto nodded and pulled away from the curb, surprised that Jack had chosen somewhere that wasn't pizza or Chinese.

They drove in silence apart from the radio, which Jack kept changing the channel of, trying to find one he liked. After listening to about 5 seconds of at least 20 songs, Ianto had had enough and, as Jack reached across to change the channel yet again, he let go of the steering wheel and smacked Jack's hand away. Jack screeched in a most undignified way and Ianto looked at him with raised eyebrows.

'What was that for?!'

'Stop fiddling!!'

'I wasn't!!'

'Yes you were,' Ianto leaned across Jack and popped open the glove compartment, 'look in there and find a CD.'

Hunting through the CDs crammed into the glove box kept Jack busy for several minutes, during which Ianto amused himself in thinking about how keeping Jack entertained was like entertaining a toddler. Five minutes later and they were driving along to ABBA's Greatest Hits off all things – a disk Ianto had forgotten he had and only had because Lisa had liked the Swedish group. The rest of the drive was accompanied by Jack's singing. Ianto just sat there, hoping he'd have a left eardrum left by the time they reached the restaurant.

They reached Las Tasca, just off Bute Terrace and went in – Ianto getting surprised again when he realised Jack hade made a reservation.

'How organised of you Captain.'

'Hey! I can be organised! Only with the important things though, not stupid things like paperwork or those stupid archives you're always moaning about…'

Jack's mumbled rant about paperwork and "damn administrators" was interrupted when the waitress came to show them to their table.

The meal passed surprisingly normally with them talking about many things, from Wales' chances in the Rugby World Cup (Jack had very little to say on that topic much to Ianto's exasperation) to the newest series of X-Factor. They talked about everything. Everything except work. And Jack's recent absence. Something Ianto was glad of. He wanted one "normal" night – one without Weevil chases or Aliens trying to take over the world – and Jack seemed happy enough to try and give him that. One thing that was bothering Ianto, however, was the lack of Jack's innuendo laden comments. He kept pushing these comments aside, though, deciding that Jack was still recovering from his recent imprisonment.

They finished their tapas surprisingly quickly, or so it seemed. Ianto was shocked when he looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 10pm. By the time they had finished their desserts – they shared the most sinful orange cheesecake Ianto had ever had – and coffee's and liqueurs, it was gone half 10. They made their way back to Ianto's car, laughing most of the way at Jack's ridiculous stories of his past adventures, and Ianto was sure that – had anyone seen them – they would have looked drunk. Instead they wound their way through the back streets to where Ianto had parked the car, unwilling for the evening to end.

The drive back to Ianto's apartment was quieter then the drive there, with ABBA playing softly in the background as the two men sat there in silence, enjoying each others company and the contact Jack always seemed to maintain with Ianto – whether it was a hand on his leg or holding his hand. It wasn't a sexual touch, more like Jack was trying to reassure himself that Ianto was still there. Still right next to him.

They reached Ianto's building and – once Ianto had turned the engine off – they sat there in silence for a while.

'So…' Ianto said, 'thank you for tonight Jack, I… it was fun.' Ianto looked at Jack and he could see the honesty in Ianto's eyes. He grinned.

'Come on, I'll walk you up,' Jack said, opening the car door.

Ianto followed suit, shutting the door and locking it, 'You only say that 'cos you hope I'll invite you in for coffee. And I mean that in the literal sense,' he said on seeing Jack's grin.

They walked up the stairs to the third floor and stopped outside Ianto's door.

'So…' Jack said, unintentionally repeating Ianto's line from in the car, 'do I get invited in for coffee?'

'I…' before Ianto could formulate a complete answer, however, he was cut off by Jack's lips on his. These weren't the soft, tender kisses that they shared over the past week, this was desperate, passionate, wild. Ianto felt his back hit his front door and a doorknob press into the small of his back. Jack was still kissing him desperately, hardly letting him catch his breath.

But suddenly, Jack's lips were gone, only for them to reappear seconds later, sucking on Ianto's neck, right above his pulse. Ianto tried hard to suppress his moans, knowing his neighbour's – in particular Miss Cartwright, the nosiest old lady Ianto had ever met – would find it a source of great amusement to find him being snogged, rather thoroughly, up against his front door. By a _man_ no less. He was brought back to the present by Jack nipping his neck before kissing his way back up to Ianto's ear and sucking on the lobe.

'Please Ianto,' he panted, 'please… I need… I need to _feel_. I need to know you're still alive. Still here. Here with me.'

'Jack,' Ianto said, still slightly breathless, trying to push the Captain off him, ' I thought you wanted to take it slow?'

'Screw slow,' Jack replied, resisting Ianto's pushes, 'I need _you_.'

'No, Jack.'

The firmness in Ianto's voice seemed to shock Jack back into reality and he shifted his weight back slightly, off Ianto, allowing the Welshman to step forward, much to his relief, as the doorknob had been starting to bruise.

Ianto looked Jack in the eyes, 'I can't Jack, I can't, not after… not after you left us… I just… I need to trust you again before we can…' Ianto trailed off, looking slightly ashamed and diverted his eyes, his cheeks flushed pink.

Jack suddenly felt ashamed, remembering the warnings he had received from Owen and stepped back fully from Ianto, putting more space between them. 'Ianto, look I'm sorry… I know, I shouldn't have left, and I really am sorry for that, but… I had to… I had to see The Doctor, see if he could fix me.'

Ianto met his eyes again, 'I know, I'm not blaming you for leaving, don't worry. I just… wish you'd said something before you went. Then we would have known… known if you were OK.'

Jack sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair, making some of it stand on end, 'Wow, we sure know how to ruin a perfect evening don't we?' he gave a wry smile.

Ianto chuckled, 'yeah, but we're Torchwood aren't we? We don't do perfect.'

Jack smiled, glad to have his sarky Welshman back, 'Yeah, one of the perks of the job I guess.'

They stood there in silence for a few more minutes, before Ianto suddenly frowned, 'Jack, why… why did you say you need to feel me to make sure I'm alive? Last time I heard, you were the only one out of us who had died.'

As soon as he said it he wished he hadn't. The shutters on Jack's face went down and his face went blank, 'It's nothing Ianto,' he waved his hands, 'nothing, just forget I said anything.'

Ianto frowned even harder, 'it is not nothing Jack. If it was nothing, you wouldn't have said anything to begin with.'

Jack ran a hand through his hair again, making even more of it stand on end, 'Look, I want to tell you, and I will, I promise. But, now isn't the time, and I… I need some time to come to grips with it myself OK? But I will tell you, I promise, just… I need some time…' he reached across and rubbed Ianto's arm reassuringly.

Ianto looked closely at Jack's face, scrutinising it him, 'Jack? Is it about… about that year? The year that Saxon had you?'

Jack just nodded in reply and this seemed to satisfy Ianto who smiled softly, 'Alright.'

Jack grinned again, looking more like his normal self then the lost man that had been standing in front of Ianto moments ago.

A yawn caught Ianto by surprise and he lifted a hand to cover his mouth, dislodging Jack's hand.

'I better be going,' Jack said reluctantly, 'it's late, and you'll do your usually thing and turn up for work at 7am, when most normal people are only just getting up.'

Ianto rolled his eyes, and started digging in his pockets for his keys, he found them and opened the door, stepping inside the door and threw the keys onto the small table and hung his jacket up before stepping back out the door to grab Jack's greatcoat lapels and pulling himself in for a soft kiss.

'Goodnight Jack,' he whispered, pulling back, before stepping back into his flat and shutting the door softly, leaving a grinning Captain in the hallway outside.

**A/N:** so there we have it, the next chapter will be 'Sleeper' and maybe 'To the Last Man' depedning on how long they take meto write.

please reveiw!! it's my birthday soon and they would make perfect birthday presents :D

NCx


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